On Friday, there was a presentation in Imperial College about fuel cell vehicles by Nissan. We also got a ride in the car after that. It is still very pricey but the car is so quiet, has good mileage(can last up to 250 miles per full tank(of hydrogen). However, it is still in its early stage of development and will take few years(their target is 2015) to reach out to the upper market. Mass market production will take longer to reach and the chain of hydrogen fuel stations need to be improved. But it’s a good start for Nissan(joint venture between the US and Japan).
The picture above shows how the fuel moves from the hydrogen tank to the motor/battery.
9 responses so far ↓
zzeed // 21 July 2008 at 9:22 am |
sweet ride. the interior looks like the car was an SUV. was it?
hey… im interested to do postgraduate in electrical/power at imperial… you mind providing guide & insight?
sohas // 21 July 2008 at 9:45 am |
It looks like it, yeah. Click on the link above to see the picture(fuel cell vehicle – nissan webpage).
Sure things – what do you want to know? I am in the Power Group…Shall I drop you an email?
Wata // 25 July 2008 at 1:56 pm |
A thought buzzing in my head was, a fuel cell car works if the efficiency of the process to create the fuel (hydrogen, oxygen byproduct) is higher than an internal combustion engine. Or using renewable energy. When will fusion become a viable energy source (sigh). Oh well, there’s always fission.
sohas // 25 July 2008 at 2:05 pm |
Well, a fuel cell-driven car works even though efficiencies are low – costs are still high and there are room for improvement of course…
The process(usually ‘reforming’ natural gas to hydrogen and its byproducts) usually is not used in fuel cell cars unless they have the reformer installed(in this case to make sure cars can last during a long journey when there aren’t many hydrogen pump stations – giving them the option to use normal gasoline stations instead). The idea is so that hydrogen stations are widely available to ‘fuel up’ these cars. This of course takes a long time to achieve – technically another supply chain which has its own problems, costs and management issues.
I am not sure whether this is the right response to your thought…and I am not sure why you brought up fusion(that’s in nuclear technology)…
Radzian // 28 July 2008 at 5:12 am |
I really love those gadget in the car. Fuel cell is a great alternative for the future, but as you say, the efficiency is low. So is solar cell’s efficiency.
By integration of these technologies, Mercedes is going for non-oil car in 15 years time.
BTW, Toyota Prius 1.5 engine can go for 50 km for one litre of oil. I guess when we add up fuel cell and solar together with the magnetic shaft and gear, it may one day go to 100 km per litre.. Hope that day will come… it is still a wishful thinking.
jabbathehutt // 30 July 2008 at 10:01 am |
For the un-initiated, parts can be difficult to find. For a Fiat punto, i need to pay RM240 for a pair of brakes flown in from italy.
Imagine u need to pay for a hydrogen combustion ratio regulator…. that’s be the price of a Honda kapcai.
sohas // 30 July 2008 at 10:20 am |
well, of course the first target market would be a niche one – aiming at high income earners
sohas // 30 July 2008 at 3:03 pm |
If we can ‘brew hydrogen’ at home, it will promote fuel cell cars. Check this out:
http://www.economist.com/science/tm/displayStory.cfm?source=hptextfeature&story_id=11831730
sohas // 1 August 2008 at 10:44 am |
Another good link for hydrogen fuel cells:
http://automobile-news.info/fuel-cell-vehicles/